Online gambling ring closed by Israeli police
Posted by Carl Barnett on 08 Dec 2009 at 14:12
A major online gambling ring has been dismantled in Israel.
In a joint venture by the police and the Israeli Tax Authority, the ring was raided on the 16th November, and involved over 300 police officers.
The police raided the homes of 37 suspects in the country, with many of the those involved in the raids being taken in for questioning.
The assets that were seized during the operation amounted to tens of millions of shekels.
Court orders enabled the police to seize assets and vehicles of the suspects before the raids took place, and 160 bank accounts were frozen.
A police source involved in the investigation and subsequent raids said: "We employed techniques to monitor the web site that are very similar to eavesdropping."
The web site in question had a large support network behind it, involving aspects such as a technical support team, and many betting agents.
Between April 2007 and June 2009 70 million visits were recorded on the site.
Crimes associated with the site include tax evasion, money laundering and extortion.
The investigation was managed by the Joint Intelligence Centre, a government-created body that was tasked with job of providing information on organised crime to police and tax authority professionals.
